Once upon a time I had cute feet. Well, as cute as a foot can possibly be, that is. They matched each other and were a perfect size 8. I was able to wear heels that were four inches high with no problem. In fact I used to waitress eight hour shifts in three inch heels.

Then I developed Rheumatoid Arthritis when I was twenty years old. Suddenly my three inch heels began to hurt after a few hours, but I persevered and wore them anyway.

At 29 I got pregnant with my first child, and my normally size 8 feet swelled up to look like fat sausages. Even after I delivered the baby and some of the swelling went down my feet remained an 8 ½. All my pre-pregnancy shoes were boxed up and donated to good will.

Still, I didn’t give up the dream of wearing cute shoes. I went out and bought a bunch of practical two inch heels and carried on.

At 35 I got pregnant again. I was less surprised this time when my 8 ½ feet suddenly grew to be a size 9. My husband refused to believe me though. He was convinced that I just wanted to buy all new shoes.

There was no doubt that the shoes I purchased after baby number two were suddenly a lot more practical. In fact they were almost old lady looking. Basically I had abused my feet for years and now they were done with it.

Fast forward a couple of years later and I needed multiple surgeries, metal pins, and titanium screws to piece all the little bones back together. I was in a wheel chair for four months because my bad knee wouldn’t allow me to use the roll-about scooter the doctor recommended.

It was not a pleasant experience. Even worse, I will need another surgery down the road because the foot is becoming rather funky and disfigured looking. My foot even has a name. We refer to it as Frankenfoot. I’m sure you can see why. It is covered in scars and has lovely twists, dents and lumps. Plus, the second toe sticks up in the air because of a ripped tendon that never heeled.

My love of shoe shopping is now a royal pain in the ass. Most shoes, no matter what size, just don’t fit Frankenfoot, especially strappy sandals. Then shoes that fit end up rubbing tender spots on the foot which makes the shoe incredibly painful to wear.

It sometimes shocks me when I look at how much money I spent to acquire the ugliest of shoes just because they fit and didn’t cause pain.

I have had luck with a variety of sneakers, but as a rule I don’t like sneakers. Truthfully, I kind of hate them. They are big and bulky, and when your foot is a size 9 they are even bigger and bulkier. Still, if it were up to my podiatrist, rheumatologist, and surgeon I would wear sneakers every day for the rest of my life.

The Sketchers Store at my mall has become my go to store, because like Vans, they look like a shoe but fit like a sneaker. Recently they came out with new soles in their shoes made from memory foam! It’s like walking on clouds. Seriously, last month we spent four days at Universal Studios and I walked all day for four days straight. I give full credit to my shoes for helping me to last that long.

I took all three of these pairs with me. Click on the pictures to see enlarged photos. I wore the black Walkers or the gray thin soled sneakers all day at the theme park. Then, I switched to the Mary Jane’s for when we went out in the evening. I admit these aren’t super fancy and if we were at home I would have worn something a bit dressier but because I knew I was going to be on my feet for ten to twelve hours a day I didn’t even bother wasting suitcase space on shoes that would probably hurt.

So if you have problem feet and are looking for a dreamy soft, supportive shoe that doesn’t look like old lady shoes or aren’t the size of bricks, check these out. Plus, the best part is these shoes are all only about $55-$65 a pair, which is half the price of most Borns, Clarks, The Walking Co. and other orthopedic style shoes. Just click the links below if you want to order them.

If you have any of these let me know what you think about them!

~Tina

**This is NOT a sponsored post. I purchased these shoes with my own money. The thoughts and opinions here are my own.**